Past the Forgotten Present
by Annaiel
Summary: A tired and lonely woman finds a visitor on her table. Can he break through the ice wall she built around her heart or is it too thick for even the Masamune? SephxOC, alludes to other pairings.
1. Prologue

Past the Forgotten Present

I don't own any of the characters besides Raven. And the entirety of other people you don't know. Muaha.

Prologue.

Oh God. That face.

Bloody, mangled, and, even postmortem, twisted in a scream. It haunted me as I drove home. But then, it was a rare day that something I saw at work DIDN'T haunt me. All I wanted at this point was some food and a bed.

But mentally, I pitied the other people on the clogged highway back to the complex. Ignorance truly is bliss, until it bites you in the ass. And judging from my day, it bit a lot of people.

For you see, I'm a medical examiner .The best in the state. Or so the Feds say. And being the best in the fine state of California means you see people who, only days before, was someone like you. But now, they were a pile of flesh, bones and blood. And god damn, you will find out who they are and how they got here if it was the last thing you do.

Once I raged my way to the complex ,flipping four people off and proudly spouting every curse in the book, I walked up to my apartment ,taking no chances with my below-zero patience.

Unlocking my door, I took my coat off and threw it on the one chair I had. I don't have company all that much (read: never). And so, I can sit in my comfy chair with a nice piece of chicken I zapped and have the eye candy of Advent Children wipe my memories away. An old movie, but it worked after seeing ugly things. I had gotten it way back in 2006, when I was 15. And the sad part was, whenever I saw Kadaj or Sephiroth, I still squeal like a fan girl on speed. I won't tell if you don't.

CRASH SHATTER THUMP

It jerked me back into reality really fast; I had my 9mm out before I knew that I even reached for it. That mayhem had come from the kitchen, dinner-room, thingy.

Slowly rising from the seat, inching my way across the floor in stealth not many people can humanly have.

One look inside and I nearly shit myself.


	2. Hot DAMN

Past the Forgotten Present

I don't own any of the characters besides Raven. And the entirety of other people you don't know. Muaha.

Chapter 1.

A blade leveled itself right between my eyes. A sword. An honest-to-god, slice-you-in-half SWORD.

Once my mind returned from someone-just-fell-into-my-kitchen-and-theres-no-hole-in-the-ceiling mode, I noticed exactly WHO was holding the sword.

Someone I had loved since I was 15.

Someone who was my model of being since then.

Someone..who wasn't supposed to exist.

His eyes held mine. Green cat-like and PISSED. But, even to my surprise ,I acted like men always fell from my ceiling at 10 o clock at night. Especially if they were the subject of many a good adolescent dream.

I moved my gaze from his eyes, enjoyable as it was to nearly drown in them, to the rest of my surprise guest, even as the humongous sword was a hair's width from slicing me in two.

He didn't speak .Hell, he didn't have to. His eyes said everything he could have.

So I did.

"That was a nasty fall. Anything broken?" His ankle was twisted in a weird direction, so a 'yes' was in order. But there was a slight detail. I had the longest blade I ever saw point-blank at my forehead.

His silver head faced down as he tried ,horribly, to show that he wasn't hurt. Even if that ankle was broken, he was either brave enough, or stupid enough to soldier through it. Hehe, soldier ,I just made a mental joke. I MUST be going senile.

One arm taken up holding the sword to my head, he seemed to refuse to listen to whatever reason called that wonderfully silver-tressed head home, even if I severely doubted there was any to begin with.

I tipped the sword away from my forehead, ignoring the death glare he gave me. Moving over to his side as he kept trying to put weight on the twisted ankle. When I touched it, He nearly threw the sword at me.

Dodging it, I snorted. "Oh shut up, you giant doof. Its sprained pretty badly but I doubt my table gave a big enough fight to break it."

"How dare"

"I said shut up. Now just lean on my shoulder a bit, and I'll you onto my couch." I didn't HAVE a couch, but I was betting he wouldn't know the difference right now.

". . ."

"It's either that ,or I personally hurl your sorry hide out of my window to finish your trip down."

He didn't bother arguing with that. Setting his shoulder-shattering weight onto my chair, I lifted his foot onto my bended knee, lightly moving my fingers along his booted ankle, earning a very painful death wish from him.

So, to keep that blade from searing my head in two, I filled the room with mindless ramblings. Aside from at work, I was damn good at rambling.

"I'm guessing you aren't going to stoop to asking where the hell you are, so I'll just tell you. Well, you're pretty damn far from, well, where you're from," I didn't mention that I knew the relative vicinity of where that was, seeing as that would probably creep him out. "Los Angeles, California to be exact. God knows how you fell into my kitchen when there's no hole in the ceiling." I wrapped his ankle in some gauze I had retrieved in the middle, babbling like an idiot the entire time. Trust me to have medical gauze and icepacks in my apartment 24/7.

One eyebrow rose. I looked up from my work for a second, realizing that he'd been watching me the whole time.

"How old are you, girl?" Ah that voice. Strong, yet light enough to be called careful, if a voice can be called 'careful'.

"25 since January. Why do you ask?" And the fact I hated being called 'girl' when, well.. I'll get to why not even mentally I am girly.

He paused. "Your hair's nearly longer than mine." Well THAT was a weird observation. But it was true. Even braided, I could sit on my hair.

I couldn't help myself. I laughed outright. It had been a while since something so simple made me laugh.

"That's because I haven't cut it since I was 15." One hell of a busy year, landmark-wise.

He stared. Not an amazed or disturbed stare. Just, stared.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" That shut me up pretty damn quick.

I was very skilled at lying. Hell, I could say the sky was green, and with enough logical reasoning that was total bullshit, and people will believe me. But this time, I stuck with the truth. Knowing him, he'd probably make me scared if I said otherwise.

"Yes. Absolutely shitless. But I'll break your ankle in five different places right now if you try to exploit that." I knew my face was twisted into a glare. But another thing many have told me, is that when I glare, my eyes empty of all feeling and emotion. A co-worker once said behind my back that she wasn't going to be surprised if a victim of mine ended up in the ITR (Impossible To Read, a nickname for our section of the forensics department).

For all that, all I got was, "Hn."

Finishing the wrap, I smoothed over the gauze.

"There we go. Just a few hours and you'll be good as new." I switched my glare/blank face and turned on what was supposed to be a slight smile, looking up at him.

But the look on his face made me snort indignantly.

"For normal people, it would be a few DAYS." I crossed my arms and stood, my mouth twisted in a smirk.

He shot me a death glare that was laced with something I thought I'd never see from HIM.

Surprise.

I moved to where I was behind the chair back and leaned slightly over him. Holy mother of pancakes, I could FEEL his confusion.

"You know then, who, or rather What, I am?"

I snorted again. My usual replacement for a laugh.

"How can I not? I have known you for a little over ten years, Sephiroth."

Review responses! YAY!

TenmaAkari- Well, only about two days after posting the prologue here's your wish fulfilled! Isn't he just sqee-worthy? XD


	3. Lucky Save

Past the Forgotten Present

I don't own any of the characters besides Raven. And the entirety of other people you don't know. Muahaha.

Chapter 2

I could feel him watching me.

Those emerald eyes burning into mine.

I blinked a few times, and then promptly buried my face into my drool-encrusted pillow. Oh, bugger. It wasn't a really good dream. Sephiroth Valentine (a/n: Yes, I believe Vincent is Sephiroth's father, and no amount of pro-Hojo flaming will ever change that.) really WAS staring at me. I was starting to think God had a sick sense of humor, dropping him into my apartment right before my day off.

"Mmmr. Go 'way." I didn't care at this point in time whether that offended him or not. 7am is way too early on a Saturday to care what someone else thinks, really.

"Does everyone in your time lose their manners?" For a moment, I forgot the little pep talk we had about not slicing the TV in two last night. I had touched on the fact that in this time, in this world, you break my TV, I shatter you into little bits so tiny not even the ITR can find the rest of you. He finally seemed to take me seriously after I pointed my .357 Magnum into his temple after he tried to do it again. Yes, I have two guns, legally licensed to me, being paranoid as I am about things like this. Actually four. The 9mm, the .357, and the shotgun and rifle I inherited from my dad. Fear my firepower.

I lifted my head and thought about what he said for a good three milliseconds, which is a record for me.

"Nope, just those whose only day off for a few months is today." I re-suffocated myself, trying to wake up from this confusing dream/nightmare. I still couldn't decide which one it was.

He sat back on his heels, still watching me. Not that I could see him, but his eyes were scalding holes into my head.

"You never said what you do." Right to the frigging point. Gotta love 'im. If you don't try and strangle him first. It's me, really. I hated that question.

"Ugh. I was kinda hoping you wouldn't ask that. EVER."

He knelt beside the bed, seeing as I wasn't getting up, not even for his sweet ass.

"Why do you do it if you hate it so much?" Nah, crapballs on a stick. The usual conclusion when I said I hated explaining it. Jeeze, you'd think the clever Sephiroth would figure it the hell out.

"I don't hate it; I just hate explaining it to people without counting them in the 'never talking to me again' pile. If you _insist_. "I sat up and pulled the shirt that twisted its way around my pitifully small chest back to where it should be.

"I analyze the remains of victims even the FBI can't make heads or tails of and find who they were, what happened to them, and put the person who made them that way behind bars for the rest of his or her physical life. Any questions?" I sighed and laid back down again, waiting for the repulsion or over-interest that usually came with my job description.

But, to my surprise, he didn't do either. He didn't laugh either though, so I'm actually pretty anxious to see what he says.

"I kill people to rescue a virus trapped in metal. I fail to see why your job isn't weirder than mine."

And for the second time in a week, a simple sentence made me laugh. It actually felt good. I didn't laugh often, with what I see everyday kinda killing whatever I saw well with the world.

That's another reason I wonder why the hell I took my job. It absolutely murdered who I was. I actually remember when nearly everything made me laugh and Law & Order was the closest I got to murder. God, I miss those days.

I guess Seph, as I call him inside the safety of my own head, noticed my expression, because he leaned in close and looked me right in the eyes. This made me feel about three kinds of retarded.

Seven-foot, silver-haired soldier aside, I looked forward to a normal day off. Namely, blowing my pay on video games. I looked over at Sephiroth, who was looking out the window in a way that made my heart ache. He looked so damned lonely, like a big deadly teddy bear.

Shaking away that stupid thought, I threw my stuffed cat at him. "Get out. I need to get dressed." He smirked and strode out. On any other man, it would have looked stupid, but with Sephiroth, that gait was graceful and body-meltingly sexy.

Yet another stupid thought and its not even noon. I have to be going batty.

For some strange reason, I fretted over my outfit more than usual. For mall trips, it was throw on a shirt and jeans then go, but I found myself in something I wouldn't wear anywhere but work. Why? Because it looks too damn good on me for normal wearing.

A sort of Victorian style black crinkled blouse layered over some nicely fitting black-dyed jeans. Not too showy, just really good looking. With my multi-hued hair tied half-up in a sort of natural elvish-ish look, I doubted I'll be able to cross the damn street without having to break someone's wrist.

Walking out to the hallway where Seph was waiting, I just took one look at him, and he at me. He smirked. Ah, crap, the smirk. But I looked into his eyes and saw an appreciative expression within them. Wow. Since I was a teen I had dreamed of this moment, but now it was just damn uncomfortable.

I walked up to him and pointed to each item as I named them. "Take the shoulder things off and button your coat. This is me trying to keep us out of jail. ," the next part I didn't think I was going to live through. "At least tie your hair back. Please?"

He glared at me as I took out a hair tie I kept in my pocket. I knew I was going to die. Waiting for the slice of death, I didn't budge.

Well, screw that. He took the tie out of my hand and tied that beautiful mass of silver back.

And just like that, we were heading off into the world, come what may.

Review responses! YAYY! does a happy dance

TenmaAkari- Yay! Thank you for so far being the first to R&R my stories!

Imakegoboom- I shudder to think of what people would do to me if I tried that crap. Good luck Yaz-Otakuing, and see ya tomorrow.

Renegadius- Why, thank you, my love. Yeah, she IS a bit bipolar now that I realize it ,


	4. I'm SO screwed

Past the Forgotten Present 

I own Raven and the entirety of the other people you don't know. Muahaha I am a yaoi fangirl ,but the two main characters of this fic are stright. But worry not, I will have my yaoi yet... maniacal laugh  
Chapter 3 -  
Why does God hate me? Did I do something... wait.. Don't answer that.

Because when I started the day feeling pretty damn good, what with Sephiroth himself dropping into my life and being a total gentleman. (He carried my new crap opened the door for me. I wanna keep him.) I'd mark up the morning as an awesome morning. One of the best I've had since high school.Then HE called.

HE. My little brother. Bane of my very existence. When were kids we got along ok. There's only so much friendliness when you have two conflicting personalities born eighteen months apart. Now I hate him with every fiber and cell of my being. Evidently the feeling is mutual since he, being a star player with the NFL, keeps setting me up with fuckwits who get mad at me for not wearing slut-skirts or makeup,or being a slut for them in general, then whine to him about it, making my life doubly hell. Getting bitched at by a fuckwit and then a dumbshit is not as entertaining as it sounds. Not even close.

What, me, bitter? Naw.

My phone started buzzing at the little cafe I took Seph to for lunch. (When his stomach rumbles, the ground shakes. I kid thee not.)

So, I answered it without bothering to see who it was. Mistake number One.

"Soma." I answer like that bcause I do. I don't analyze myself as a rule. (ignore all previous self-analyzing. Shh)

"Stop answering like that, Raven. people will think you don't like them." Nuts. Day is now ruined. Fuck.

"I have never cared what people think and I never will. Start talking, Joseph." Seph smiled at me at that. Guess he liked my answer. I smiled back, then made a choking face. I hated talking to my brother. He was stupid and talked like it. This little shit got better grades than me. There is no justice in the world.

"You should. It reflects badly on me, and the press will have a field day when they find my sister lives like a hermit in a totally uncool job and no boyfriend. They'll start thinking I'm related to a lesbian or something." Is there a way of transferring hate without saying anything over a phone? No? Damn.

"Joseph.. You ARE related to a lesbian." Our cousin (like third cousin, but I'm not clear on it. My family confuses me by BEING) came out a few years back. She is the coolest of our family. Really pretty, too, but I'm getting off topic.

"Whatev. " I twitched. I'm not a grammar Nazi, but to use something like that when speaking makes me want to kill him.

"Anyways, I have some ideas. How about you get a cooler job, a boyfriend and move down here again? I mean, jeeze, Rave, you were born here. There's a party for-" Seph had reached over and closed my phone. What was that for? I appreciate it, but...

"You were turning red."So matter of fact...

"Was it THAT obvious?" Wow, I must seem like a complete loser. A phone call makes me lose my cool. Or want to kill small furry animals. Either one works for this particuar situation.

"You were white-knuckling your phone, too." Damn that smile. Not a teasing, but more like a smirk. Still.. Damn you for being so sexy. Damn you. "And you haven't eaten anything." He pointed to my still full plate of a chicken ceasar (I'm a sucker for the dressing) and I laughed. I don't know why, but it seemed funny to me. My sense of humor always is a bit off to some people.

"Let's go home."

Ah. Home sweet home. I fell into my chair, watching my new all-powerful pack mule setting down all my new stuff, a very, very nice realization washed over me.

Sephiroth has a really nice ass. Now, being a fangirl, I should have noticed this back when I was a teen, but then I was more an eyes and hair girl. Now, with the bona fide demi-god in my apartment, I'm having new revelations and I'm too happy right now to put my happy thoughts down with cynisism. And that fell pretty solidly under 'happy thoughts'.

I'm a big girl now, and so I've seen plenty of man-butt. You'd be suprised with the sheer amount of hot guys that are forensic majors. But most had little to no ass. Not Sephiroth. Oh, no. Definitely not. That particular backside-. My sex-deprival-induced reverie was interrupted by a mako-glowing stare.

Next thing I know, he's staring at me, our noses just mere centimeters apart.

"Hello there." that came out something like 'hello thar' but hey ,we'll talk about my mouth not working right later.

"Enjoying the view?" Usually I'd blanch and stutter, but screw that. This was not a blanch and stutter moment.

"Very much." No shame in it. He knows he's sex personified. It's in his voice, the way he walks... He just KNOWS. I'd be more worried if he didn't, really. "Used to it yet?" Jeeze, the man's sexy-as-sin. I would NOT be suprised to know that nearly every teen girl from Midgar to Wutai had a raging crush on the guy. God knows he now has half of LA's female population under that spell, too.  
He laughed. The god of my universe, Satan gone sexy, supervillan-extraordinare.. laughed. It's just as sinful as the rest of him. Man, I need to get out more. These thoughts are getting way too common."Getting there. It's a nice change from being universally hated."

"I'd say so." This is getting rough. He's so..damn..close. Smells like... forest? What the hell? Sin smells like the woods. That's odd. For some reason.. it's just making it even harder not to eat hi- I mean, kiss him...yeah. That's what I meant. God, what I would give to be able to do so and not regret it later. That's what knocked me back to reality. He'd find a way back to Gaia and I'd be alone,to the micking of Joseph and his morons. Otherwise, he'd hate me, kill me, and that was the end. If neither of those options were there, you'd need a freaking crowbar to pry me off.

So, I said the one thing that would be probably the best cock-block in the history of cock-blockdom.

"Cloud give in this easy?" Damn double damn. Can't believe I just said that. A Sephirothian NEVER suggests Cloud and Sephiroth together. It sickens us. (Ok, that sounded like something Gollum from Lord of the Rings would say... But back to the sex god about half an inch from my face)

"Actually... Easier." He wins. I competely walked into that.

"Push him over and he spreads 'em?" This is actually really fun.

"Didn't even have to do that." That's ... I want to say sick, but I have the biggest manhore alive as my brother. Instead, I do something really really retarded. I couldn't help it...really.

I giggled. I, a cold venomous bitch from the age of sixteen, GIGGLED like a fangirl on crack. Sad, pathetic.. and really bad timing. He looked at me like I WAS a fangirl on crack. Man, whatever spirit dropped him into my apartment was a twisted mofo. (Why do I keep thinging Hojo did this? Oh, that's right. Most fucked up sucker in the storyline)

"No hope of that here." Lay down the law, though we'll see how long THAT law lasts. My money's on about five minutes.

"Wasn't...expecting it of you." Screw that. Six seconds, tops. Then my failed cock-block was bitchslapped by a even better, formerly inconceivable one.

CRASH BAM SNAP "FUCK!"

Seph stood with an almost, no, definitely homicidal speed and force. I knew that voice from somewhere, I just couldn't place it until I saw a nice big vein of Sephiroth's temple try to break free of the skin over it.

"God DAMN it." Well, I'M not getting any tonight.

Wow, took me a while to pump that out. It was a lot more pathetic that I thought it'd be, but that's up to you guys. Well, I've been gone for nearly a year, and have finnaly started this SOB up again. Hope you guys enjoy.  
┌Ё┌Ф┌х┌Г ┌┌х┌╒┌╕


	5. Breaking Down

**Past****the Forgotten Present**

**I own Raven and the entirety of the other people you don't know. Muahaha. Seriously. No one else. I'm too poor to be sued for anything.**

**I am a yaoi fangirl, but the two main characters of this fic are straight. But worry not, I will have my yaoi yet... maniacal laugh**

**Chapter 4**

My poor table. I finally get it fixed after Sephiroth's little escapade. (I made him repair it. Amazing what leveling a gun at someone's crotch can get you, whacked-out demi-god or no.) And now, it's gone to bits again, courtesy of the blond waste of pixels before me. Cloud fucking Strife in all his emo-tastic glory is lying in a pile of wood shards and what's left of my table. Sure, I have my .357 about an inch from his face, but that doesn't make it any better. I've hated him for a while, but this makes it real, instead of just about how Squeenix made him look and act. Now, it's because he broke my damn table and interrupted my attempt to get some much-needed nookie. Oh yeah, I want him D-E-D DEAD.

"If you have a brain in your skull, you will keep your mouth shut, regardless of who is standing behind me." He just glares at me, like he has a reason to. Little shit. "Yes, that's Sephiroth. No, you will not fight him. If you do, I will have a legally okay reason to pull this trigger." Oh, do I want to. Then, he gives me a reason. Yay.

In my nearly thirty years of life, I've learned that men can be awe-inspiring, cute, wondrous creatures… until they open their mouths.

"Not planning to destroy this world, too, are you, Sephiroth?" Then they're idiotic, worthless, freakish cannon fodder. Cloud and Seph… well, mostly Cloud, start a screaming match. Through his yelling, met with Seph's cold teasing, I snap.

I can't fucking do this. My life is starting to suck again. Someone kill me now. Please? I don't care how. I'll fucking pay you to make it go away. Just make it all disappear: My moronic millionaire brother, my soul-eating job, the fact that I'm turning thirty alone, that I haven't heard anyone tell me that I've done ANYTHING but look at fucking corpses right in a little over three years, 'I love you' in twice that without wanting something from my brother for it, and now I have two freaks from freaking video games about to fuck what little I have left of my sanity all to hell. Now it all comes to the rub, my snapping point.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Oh, yeah, I'm pissed. No, it's not P.M.S. I just have a virulent case of My-life-is-eating-me-alive syndrome. "Sephiroth! You're a freaking GENERAL. Act like one, for God's sake! Stop egging him on!" Is that… shame in his eyes? Holy hell. Unfortunately, once I get on a roll, I keep going. Nothing short of a tranquilizer stops me now. Those are not fun. "YOU!" I round on Cloud. Evil-Bitch-From-The-Ninth-Level-Of-Hell Mode is in full gear. "Are you BRAINDEAD? I tell you to NOT pick a fight with him, and what do you do? _YOU PICK A FIGHT_. I'm not your goddamn mother, either of you. You're grown men. Act at least better thanchildren. No cracking Jenova jokes, choco-ass. I have a gun in my hand and I _will_ shoot you."

I feel a hand on my shoulder. It must look like I'm utterly loony, screaming at the top of my lungs at them. Seph just smiles down at me. Heh. His freak-out killed people, mine was just screaming. I do that whole breathing cool down thing I have to do when I lose it, (shows how many times I've done that) but it seems God does not want me sane. Or out of jail.

The doorbell rings. Good. Great. Fan-fucking-tastic. This is just what I need to send me to the loony bin once and for all. I put the gun away in the safe with its fellows and answer it. Whoever is behind that door better be bringing food, a raise, or something equally awesome, or I'll hurt them. Badly.

Because God hates me, my least favorite neighbor greets me with her annoying squeal of a voice. Bianca is 23, blonde-with-inch-long-brown-roots, 'hot' and a total dipshit. Here, let me show you. It may be stereotypical, but that's her. There's nothing new about her, not even in the dirty sense. Even her boobs are old. Probably crapped out tires stuffed in there, for all I know.

"I heard yelling and got scared." If THAT scared her from down the hall, she hasn't seen anything yet. The next she puts in a whisper. "Then I heard two guys. They sounded hot… Can I meet them?" I want to take out my gun and rid the earth of this Darwin Award in the making. (A/N: much loves to whoever knows what those are!) Future generations will worship me for it.

Most blondes, fake or real, I meet are smart, witty, and generally easy to get along with even if you're a social cripple like me. Bianca is just exceptional proof of why there are dumb-blonde jokes.

"………… You're joking, right?" She's stolen most of my boyfriends, so there's no goddamn way she's meeting Seph. Cloud, on the other hand… "You know, never-mind. I'll let you meet him. Hey, Cloud, c'mere." He deserves every STD she's got. This is SO much better than just shooting him. Less mess, more pain. Hooray for nosy sluts. Well, better her than the bible-thumper across the hall. He would not let me go this easy before converting, absolving, and then verbally crucifying me.

And like I'd let her know there's more than one. Pfft.

"What the hell do you wa-? Hello." He's bewitched, probably by the two cantaloupes in her too-small shirt. Though, I can't imagine why, living with Tifa and da-boobs-o-doom and all. I motion behind my back for Seph to stay out of view. Mine. At least for now.

My plan is working swimmingly. She's flirting with him in that come-get-me-I'll-totally-do-you way she always has, and he's so going for it. I won't put here what they say, because if it made me want to swear off sex even with Sephiroth, I doubt you want to read it. Oh, wow. Three minutes into meeting each other and she's offering to show him her apartment and he's accepted. HOORAH! Cloud, you are SO going to itch tomorrow. And I will laugh. I will laugh long and hard.

Once they're gone, I lock the door once more and turn back to Seph. I'm confused by why he looks angry. Maybe how he looks like he's going to eat me, and not in the fun way.

"Any particular reason you wanted to keep me hidden and not him?" Ouch. Was he jealous? Oh…crap. Wow. I thought he wouldn't want within ten feet of someone like Bianca…

"Because she's a slut and he deserves to get an STD or two... or ten. I wanted to be rid of him for a while, anyways." I hope he buys that. It's the best I can get without sounding like I'm high.

"That's not everything, was it, Raven?" He didn't. Da-… Wait. Did he just say my name? No 'Miss Soma' like he did at the mall? This is getting weird. Nevermind the fact that I like how he says it, but that's really cliché, so forget it. "If that was all, your motioning wouldn't have been so frantic." Wow. He's good. And really close, but let's not focus on that, shall we?

Now comes the hard part. Admitting I feel anything at all is hard for me. (Well, if you haven't figured 'why' out yet, you need to learn how to read.) Much less admitting that I feel something for someone I met two days ago. That's just HARD. And a slight bit stalker-like.

"She's been the person the last few..." I don't want to call them lovers, because there was no love on their side, just stupid, infantile greed. "Boyfriends have cheated on me with. I only send a guy to her if I hate them." Hate them very much… or am very drunk. Either one works, really.

He got closer, backing me into the door. That scent of the woods has wafted back into my nose, and evidently into my brain, making me have really, really wishful thinking… if 'wishful thinking' can possibly categorize these. I'd put it more under 'waking wet dream', but hey, whatever works.

"Nothing else behind that?" He smirked, making my mouth water. "Nothing to the… opposite effect?" Hot DAMN. _You, stop that before I tear off your clothes and ravish you on my floor._ I would, too. I'm that weird. And he's THAT hot. Of course, you all knew that already, or you wouldn't have read this far.

We stare at each other for a few moments, a little close for my nun-like comfort. He has that amused smirk that is all at once irritating and body-meltingly sexy.

Then we hear this.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S _GREEN_!"

We both blink a few times, as if trying to register if that really was whom we think it was. Once we seemed to have come to the same conclusion, a glance is shared between us. The glance turns into a staring contest. We hold for about half a minute. I'm the first to crack, laughing so hard it hurts. Sephiroth tries to hold it in, but then he, too, falls. After a few minutes, we have to hold onto each other for support we're laughing so hard. My laughs have turned into inconsolable giggles.

"How… how is it green? That's REVOLTING." Good choice of wording, there.

"I told you she was a slut. Though that IS a new development." He looked… confused. "It wasn't as obvious before." That didn't help. He still looked confused.

"I thought that was HER saying that…" That set me off again. I replied when I could breathe normally once more. Oh, god the IMAGE…

"Was he like _that_ back at Shin-Ra?"

"So the stories told." Well, sucked to be Cloud. Then I realized I was still firmly in his arms. In my mirth I had let my guard down. Fuck. This isn't good. I tried pushing away, but he kept a firm hold. Yeah, trying to get out of a SOLDIER's hold might pose a few difficulties.

"Not so fast."

**Well, that was fun to write. I tried pushing to another page, but the plot bunnies were attacking my brain, so I had to cut it here, just to make you all squirm.**


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